


Anything But Ordinary

by LoganExeHasStoppedWorking



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Flirting, Canon Rewrite, Crushes, Developing Friendships, Dorks in Love, First Crush, Fluff, Friendship, It’s based on a song, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26673625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoganExeHasStoppedWorking/pseuds/LoganExeHasStoppedWorking
Summary: Very loosely based on the song “Ordinary” by Joriah Kwamé.Krel’s always felt like an outcast. He never quite felt like he fit in on Akiridion-5, so what makes him think he’ll fit in on a completely different planet?
Relationships: Aja Tarron & Krel Tarron, Eli Pepperjack & Krel Tarron, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Krel Tarron, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Steve Palchuk/Aja Tarron, Toby Domzalski & Krel Tarron
Comments: 17
Kudos: 100





	Anything But Ordinary

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I heard this one song and was automatically like “ah yes. This is basically Krexie”, so this is the result. If haven’t heard the song and wanna listen to it, here’s a link: https://youtu.be/a_aXscmzWEg
> 
> Give it a listen! It’s great! Anyway, hope y’all enjoy :D

He had fallen.

Oh kleb! Krel was already having a bad time on this planet as it was. The last thing he needed was to make more humans not like him. First the crash landing, then they get sent to school, now they have to fit in just to buy them time to fix their ship to leave this heap of dirt called a planet!

As if trying to fit my in on Akiridion-5 wasn’t enough. Now, he had to try to fit in these primitive humans. Trying to blend in back home was hard enough, but this was a new level of difficult. So, yeah… he wasn’t having a fun time.

Aja knelt beside him. “Little brother, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He brushed the hair out of his face to see the idiot that knocked him over with a door. “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

“Oh fuzz bucket! I’m so sorry! I-” The human that ran into him held out a hand to help him up. He paused midway through his sentence. 

Krel ignored it and took the boy’s hand to pull himself up. The boy was much taller than he was, so Krel hand to look up at him when he stood up. The boy’s face wasn’t too far from his, causing a weird feeling in Krel’s stomach. When he looked up at him, he was met with bright green eyes and loose strands of black and blue hair slightly covering one side of his face.

Krel furrowed his brows as he noticed the boy’s expression. “Um, are you okay? Last time I checked, I was the one hit in the face with a door.”

The boy had seemingly zoned out for a moment but snapped back to reality when Krel spoke again.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! Totally! I’m fine,” he replied with a small grin. “And I’m really sorry about that! I didn’t see you there.”

Krel couldn’t help but return the smile.. “It’s fine. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He looked down at his watch. 

The other laughed nervously. “It won’t. Oh, and—”

“Bye,” Krel said impatiently. He walked past the human with his sister at his side. He hated to end the conversation so abruptly, but they didn’t have much time. In a few mekrons, their transductions would fade. 

Plus, Krel wasn’t sure he liked this feeling that building inside of him. 

Maybe it was the impact of the fall or the stress or the way that human boy was looking at him… 

No one had ever stared at him like that. 

A warm sincere smile, his eyes slightly widened in a sort of surprise. There was even a slight tint of pink on his cheeks, which confused Krel a bit. He didn’t know humans could change color! Fascinating. 

Krel shook his head. 

No, no. He couldn't dwell on that human too long. He didn’t even matter in the grand scheme of things. Getting attached to him would just be a waste of time. He just had to ignore the looks. 

Besides, what was the point?

He was an ordinary human, and Krel… Krel wasn’t normal. What kind of human would want anything to do with him? The kids at school already seemed to shrug him off as just Aja’s brother and nothing else. Humans seemed to only be interested in things that were like them. Things that were ordinary. 

He was anything but ordinary. 

-

Krel was lost in his thoughts. 

He was so lost that his brain wouldn’t let him sleep. 

After his realization at school, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Or the human boy who he bumped into only a few delsons ago. 

During the whole bug attack, Aja and him ran into that blonde oaf. The one that tried to beat him up. And it was odd to say the least. Every time he ran into her, he gave her this look. This familiar look that Krel had only seen once… but last time it was directed at him. 

He gave Aja a warm smile and his eyes widened slightly in a sort of surprise. He gave her a look of fondness. The same look that human boy gave him. 

It wasn’t until Aja said something that really caught his attention that brought back the boy’s face vividly into his mind. 

“I think the blonde oaf favors me above other humans…” She said. 

It took Krel a sekton. Then, just like the blonde oaf’s punch, it hit him square in the face. 

Did that boy... favor him above other humans?

A wild thought, sure, but could that be possible? 

No way. That was too crazy an idea. How could anyone possibly even consider taking an interest in him? He couldn’t be sure the other would reciprocate the interest. 

Krel wasn’t stupid either. He knew the Earth term for this. It was what humans called a “crush”. He had accidentally developed a crush on a human he hardly interacted with. 

Krel had seen him a few times outside of their initial interaction too. Usually, it was outside some sort of library or a cafe in town. Their interactions consisted of a quick wave, sneaking glances, or awkward hellos. 

But every time he saw him, he gave him that look that the oaf gave Aja. Granted, the way the boy did it was much more attractive… but still!

Krel thought it was just a wishful fantasy he held in his mind. Something he wished would happen but never would. 

Not for him anyway. 

See, Krel had always been the odd one out, even on Akiridion-5. The one who was usually in his sister’s shadow. The one who tried his best to go with the grain but couldn’t for the life of him. He didn’t fit in, so why would anyone catch feelings for him? 

Crushes, finding someone special… it was all just in his head. It couldn’t happen to him in real life. 

But… what if it did?

What if that dark-haired boy really did favor him? What if he reciprocated these odd feelings?

Krel’s brain began tossing the ideas of “what if he does like me” and “but he wouldn’t”. 

And that’s how the night went on. 

All the way until morning. 

-

“Careful… Careful,” the other alien said. He was standing right over him as he held the plutonium powercell in his hands.

“Just be quiet!”

Krel shot Stuart a look as he placed the power cell into a large black case. “I’m simply placing it in a case, not defusing a bomb.”

“Yeah, well, you have no idea what I had to go through to get that thing,” the other mumbled under his breath. 

Krel closed the case and locked the latch to make sure nothing happened to his cargo. He pulled the case off the counter and bid the other farewell as he opened the door to the electronic shop. Stuart stopped him before he put a foot out the door though.

“You sure you don’t want me to drive you home? I don’t think it’d be safe for you to be out this late all by yourself. Especially since… you know, the bounty and stuff.”

Krel waved a dismissive hand. “I’ll be fine. I can handle myself just as well as Aja can handle herself.”

“You sure about that?” Stuart asked. He quickly spoke again. “Not that I don’t think you can’t handle yourself! No, not that! It’s just that your sister seems to be more of a fighter while you’re more… the tech wiz. Okay, what I meant-”

Krel cut him off. “Like I said, I can handle myself. The ship is not too far from here. I can handle a short walk.”

Stuart nodded. “Well, alright then. See you later.” He waved goodbye.

Krel left the shop and took a few steps before stopping to read the small notebook with blueprints for the daxial array. There wasn’t too much left that they needed. A few parts here and there, but it was manageable for the most part. He shoved the notebook back in his pocket and picked up the black case when suddenly…

_ Bam! _

The sound metal being shot rang through the air.

Krel jumped back and held the case to his chest. He looked around to see where the shot had come from.

_ Bam! _

The case was shot again.

The king-in-waiting took cover behind a car and took in a few deep breaths. He checked in the side mirror of the car where the shooter might’ve been. He managed to spot a large figure high up on the roof of a building. It must’ve spotted him because shots were soon fired his way. He ducked for cover and held the case close to his chest.

When the glass stopped shattering above him, he sprinted away to a dark alley to take cover.

He couldn’t go back to Stuart’s electronic shop. That would lead the hunter right to him, and only the two of them wouldn’t be able to defend against that thing. They’d have his core for sure.

He sat down and hugged himself tightly, the case next to him.

Oh kleb. Oh kleb! 

This is  _ not  _ how Krel wanted to be captured. Well, he didn’t want to be captured at all… but still! He couldn’t put up a fight all by himself! He didn’t know how. It was usually Aja or Varvatos doing that sort of thing, not him.

Well, if this is how it happened. At least he knew Aja and the others were safe…

“Hey, who’s there?” A voice called out from deeper in the alleyway.

Krel inhaled sharply. He slowly and shakily stood up with his hands up to show he was defenseless. “Look, steal my core if you want. Take me, but leave my sister alone.”

A figure appeared to accompany the voice. A light blue glow appeared and revealed a familiar face. “Hey, calm down. It’s me. It’s just me, okay.”

The figure stepped into the moonlight to reveal that boy from the other day. He was dressed in the same black sweater Krel remembered, but this time a sleeve was pulled up to show some kind of machine around his wrist. It glowed a light blue and had symbols that Krel didn’t understand. In the palm of the boy’s hand was a blue ball of what looked like fire.

“It’s you,” Krel said with relief washing over him. He returned his attention back to the boy’s arm. “Fascinating… what is this? How does it work? Can all humans do this?”

The human chuckled. “You’re a curious one. I can explain later, but first answer my questions: Why are you out here this late at night? And this late at night? Seriously, you have no idea how Arcadia can be this late at night.”

Krel glanced back. “I can get a pretty good idea.”

“Geez... and what’s all this about a core? Your sister?”

“I, uh-”

There were more sounds of shooting. 

Krel quickly picked up the case. “No time for answers! We have to get out of here!” He grabbed the other’s hand and pulled him deeper into the alley to escape the bounty hunter. 

Krel led them around a building, but the boy brought them to a halt. He turned around to face the hunter.

“What are you doing?” Krel exclaimed, pulling him to try to get them running again. “Run!”

The human glanced over at Krel. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

“Maybe.” He used his free hand, which had that odd contraption on it, to create what looked like a larger version of that ball of blue flames. The symbols glowed a bright blue, then began to sort of spin until it just looked like rings of blue light. 

Krel released the boy’s other hand and slowly backed away. He was starting to get a bit nervous but still interested nonetheless. At this point, he was sure that wasn’t something most humans could do.

The boy used his other hand to grow the flame and aimed it straight at the bounty hunter. In one swift movement, he released the giant flame and it struck the enemy down.

Krel stared on in amazement. “Wow…” 

The other grabbed his hand and dragged Krel away. “This way! Before they get back up again!” He dragged Krel along with him. 

Krel let himself be guided through the twist and turns of the small town until they eventually stopped behind a building with only moonlight to let them see. 

Krel leaned against the wall and slid down, still in shock.

The other was scanning the area with a look of high alert. He leaned against the building next to Krel. “Fuzz buckets… what on Earth was that thing? It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Krel let out a puff of air. “It certainly isn’t from Earth,” he muttered beneath his breath. He spoke louder so the other could hear him. “What was that back there? With the fire and the blue and the… What…?”

The other chuckled. “You’re new here, right? That explains it. Weird things like that happen more than you’d think.” He walked in front of him and offered a hand to help him up. “I’m Hisirdoux, by the way. You can call me Douxie.”

Krel took the boy’s hand. “My name is Krel.” 

Douxie smiled. “Well, Krel, sorry about whatever that was back there. This town is a bit of an odd one, but I’m sure you’ve noticed already.”

Krel stood up and picked up his case. “Yeah…” He checked his watch. “Anyway, I have to get going,” he said hurriedly.

“Got a curfew or something?” Douxie laughed. “Don’t worry, I can walk you back home to make sure that thing doesn’t attack you again.”

Krel usually wouldn’t be sure an intergalactic bounty hunter would be scared off by a human, but ?

They walked side by side as Krel led them back to the mothership. 

As they walked down the road, the only sounds Krel could hear were their footsteps on the concrete. It was a bit of an awkward silence.

What was he doing? This kid he had been worrying about for the past few delsons was right there! And he was saying nothing!

What was he supposed to say though? ‘Hey, do you like me the way I like you? I know we’ve hardly interacted, but I still think about you a lot!’ Yeah, that wouldn’t go over well. Maybe there was something else he could talk about.

“So… what was that back there? You never answered my question. The fire, that mechanism you have on your wrist. I’ve never seen another human like that,” Krel said.

Douxie glanced over at him. “Well… it’s hard to explain.”

“Try.”

Douxie smiled and let out a puff of air through his nose. “Alright then. You have to promise not to tell anyone though.”

“I promise.”

“This is going to sound a bit odd, but… I’m not like most other people. I’m a wizard.” He looked over at Krel and was met with an expression of confusion.

“A what? What’s that?”

“A wizard. You know, with the magic and stuff. I’m human but not like most other humans.”

“Magic?” Krel tilted his head. “That sounds fascinating. How does it work?”

Douxie laughed. “I don’t think anyone knows. It’s a weird thing. Not just any ordinary human can do it. I mean, just look at me. I’ve been learning for years now and still don’t know the entire mechanics behind it.”

Krel just nodded as he listened to Douxie speak. “Interesting.” He checked his watch once again. Only a few more mekrons. He looked up and realized they were close. “Well, this has been a very eventful night, and thank you for walking me home. I can take it from here though.”

“Okay. Hey, do you-”

“Bye!”

With one last smile, he turned on his heels and ran. He felt bad leaving Douxie there, but he didn’t have long before his transfiguration wore off. And he certainly didn’t want Douxie seeing him in his Akiridion form.

He managed to get inside the house and close the door before the disguise wore off. 

As soon as it did, he set the case down on the table and silently thought for a moment.

So, they weren’t the only abnormalities of this town. That was a bit of a relief. Considering Krel wasn’t what one would consider normal on Akiridion-5 or on this planet. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one who didn’t fit in with the majority.

-

Krel just rolled his eyes.

He crossed his arms and sighed. “I am so bored. Where are we going again?”

Him and his sister stared at the three kids that were supposed to be showing them around Arcadia. And, for the record, they were not doing the best job at that.

The tall one with black hair named Jim hesitated. “Uh… a super secret… teen center!”

The short one with metal teeth nodded for confirmation. “Yeah! A teen center! That’s it!”

There was a ding and the wall in front of them opened up. Aja gasped as she pushed past Jim. “Ooo, what are those?”

Krel looked over the girl’s shoulder and pushed past her and Jim. “Looks like human bones with bite marks! Now things are getting interesting…”

He knelt down next to his sister, who had picked up a skull and was looking it over.

“Ugh, this is the worst teen center in the galaxy! Where is the music? The dancing? These primitive lifeforms can’t do anything right!”

A light blue glow caught their attention. Aja’s serrator. The very thing they needed to retrieve.

Aja handed him the skull. “I’m going to try and steal my serrator. Try to act normal for five mekrons.”

He pushed it back and stood up. “I make no promises.” Then, he stomped away.

He hated that saying. ‘Be normal.’ Seklos and Gaylen, that’s what he was always trying to do.

He wandered away from the rest of the group and explored the so-called “teen center” to find something that might interest him. He finally came to a metallic door and pressed a button to get it open. He was met with a dark room full of computers and technology that seemed a bit more advanced than the other technology he had seen on earth. Not as good as Akiridion tech, but, eh, it would have to do. “Finally,” he muttered. “Something not boring.”

He pulled a small device out of his pocket and attached it to one of the computers to get it started up again. There were a few clicks and whirs and other noises before the screens began to glow on. 

He pressed a few buttons and was able to play his music. “Nice,” he murmured to himself as he bobbed his head to the beat.

Now, this. This was his idea of fun. He smiled as he continued messing around with the settings. He clicked on something and the colorful screens that had lit up the room shut off. 

“What the…”

Then, they lit up again but played something different. This time it was some sort of video. A video lit up the screen of three humans who were fighting a gigantic monster that was nothing like what Krel had seen on Earth. And those humans looked familiar…

“Krel!” He heard his name being called by a few different voices, one of them being his sister’s. 

Aja and the three human teens entered the room. Jim saw what he was watching and immediately pushed to the side to try to shut off the computer.

Krel looked from the screen to Jim. Then, he noticed how the other two looked like Toby and Claire, the other two humans accompanying them. 

He blinked. 

That was them. That was them fighting that monster. How odd… Maybe there were more to these humans after all. Not all of them were as ordinary or boring as Krel originally thought. Kind of like that Douxie boy. Maybe they were wizards too. Whatever the case, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to fit in here after all. 

It wasn’t until later that night that this thought came up again.

Toby seemed to think he and Aja were cool. Like, actually cool. They all thought weird was a good thing… Huh… He never thought he’d see the delson that would happen.

Then, as though he needed even more confirmation, Jim created a metallic suit from seemingly nothing! All he saw was a flash of blue light and, next thing he knew, Jim was wearing a full suit of armor.

Krel nudged his sister and smirked. “And you say we’re the one that have to act normal.”

Normal? Ha! Looks like there was more to this planet than he originally thought.

Krel was actually starting to like this place. It seemed like a town he could live in. A town that wasn’t exactly ordinary. A town where people seemed to relish in how unordinary things were.

Too bad they’d have to go home soon.

-

Krel rolled his eyes.

The battle of the bands had finally come, and Krel was enjoying himself less than he expected.

Everything with Varvatos really shook him up. He really couldn’t focus on anything else besides that. He was only half paying attention to Steve horribly singing some song about his sister. Aja seemed to be enjoying it though.

Then, he heard a familiar voice. “Krel? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Krel turned and was immediately met with bright green eyes that almost looked golden in the sunlight. “Douxie,” he said. “It’s you! I mean, of course it is. Who else would it be?” He laughed nervously. “What brings you here?”

Douxie looked slightly amused at Krel’s rambling. “Probably the same thing that brought you here. Battle of the Bands.”

“Oh, right.” He shifted his weight. He looked away. He noticed Aja completely enthralled by the terrible performance.

Douxie took a step closer. “So… you have a band too?”

Krel turned back to face him. “Just my sister and I.” He crossed his arms and smiled. “You see, I’m a fairly good disc jockey if I do say so myself.”

Douxie smiled. “Aw, that’s really cu- er, I mean cool. That’s really cool is what I meant.” He cleared his throat. “I play guitar for my band.”

“Really?” Krel looked up at him with a sort of excitement. “I have a guitar! I’ve always wanted to learn to play it properly.”

“Well, I could give you lessons if you want.”

Krel was about to say yes but realized he wouldn’t be here later. This might be the last time he sees this boy. He hesitated. “That would be great, but I can’t. I’m moving soon, so…”

Douxie’s face fell a little. “Oh…” He gave him a tight smile. “Um, cool, I guess. When?”

Another hesitation. “Very soon.”

Douxie sighed. “Well… I guess this is goodbye. I don’t know you all that well, but I would’ve loved to gotten to know you a bit better.” He stood up a bit straighter. “Oh, wait! Can I see your phone really quick?”

“Uh, sure.” Krel took it out of his back pocket and handed it to Douxie. He watched as Douxie typed in a few things then handed it back to him.

“There,” the wizard said. “Now, we can message, even if you move away.”

Krel held his phone for a moment. He felt a slight rush of heat rise to his face. Then, he smiled. “Thank-”

“Little brother,” Aja’s voice called. “Come on! You’re next!” She came up behind him and grabbed his arm. Then, she seemed to notice he was talking to someone. “Oh, who’s your little friend?”

Krel shoved his phone into his pocket. “Hey! Um, come on Aja! You said we were next, right?” He turned her around and pushed her forward. “Let’s go now.”

“Good luck out there,” Douxie called.

Krel turned back for a second and gave him a smile. “Thanks. You too.”

Skelos and Gaylen, he hoped his sister didn’t notice how nervous that boy made him. He especially hoped the boy didn’t notice how nervous he made him. That would be disastrous.

On the bright side, he knew how to contact the human boy. So after everything passed and they were finally settled back on Akiridion-5, he’d be able to contact him and talk to him even back home.

He just hoped that with the fact that Douxie being a wizard, he wouldn’t be too freaked out by Krel in his normal Akiridion form. But if that lumbering oaf, Steve, could handle seeing him that way, surely Douxie wouldn’t have too much of a problem.

Maybe he could even tell him before they left…

“Little brother,” Aja called.

“Huh? I’m going. I’m going.”

Well, if he saw him before they left.

-

A delson or two passed, and they were still stuck on earth.

Not that Krel minded really. It just gave him more time to get to know Douxie, and Krel wasn’t going to complain about that. 

It was going to take a while to fix Mother and get her up and running again, so Krel thought why not just make the most of the limited time he could get to know Douxie. 

And the more they messaged back and forth, the more Krel could feel his crush growing. Douxie seemed like a really nice person to hang out with. He didn’t seem like other humans in a sense of being off-put or annoyed by Krel’s personality. Then again, Krel couldn’t tell through text. But still! The way he wrote and the little digital faces he used at the end of some of his messages made Krel feel like he was comfortable with him. It was endearing, to say the least. 

Douxie had asked if he wanted to hang out, but, due to Zadra’s rules, he unfortunately couldn’t leave the mothership. 

Well, unfortunately he couldn’t leave the mothership. He knew Aja was planning on sneaking out tonight (probably on a date with Steve), so all he had to do was follow her lead. 

He said yes and asked the human to meet him not too close to the ship for obvious reasons. After Aja left, Krel grabbed the hoverboard and followed her lead and snuck out to meet with Douxie.

Douxie was waiting for him, leaning against a tree with his hands in his pockets. 

“Hey,” Krel said as he came up to the taller boy. 

“Hey,” Douxie responded. He smirked. “So you had to sneak out, huh? I didn’t take you as the bad boy type.”

“Oh, be quiet. I’m doing this because my sister snuck out, and I need to find her.”

“Aw, I thought you actually wanted to hang out.”

Krel felt blood rush to his face. “That too, I suppose.” He shook his head. “Can you help me find my sister while we hang out?”

“Of course.” Douxie shrugged. “By the way, what’s that?”

Krel looked down at the hoverboard under his arm. He smiled. “You think you’re the only one who has tricks up their sleeve wizard?” He put it down and climbed on. He motioned for Douxie to hop on behind him. “Come on, it’s not dangerous.”

The human looked from the blue board to Krel and back. “Okay.” He stepped on, almost tripping in the process. 

Krel laughed and took his hand to steady him. He noticed the light pink tint return to the other’s face. 

“Don’t worry, it was hard for me the first time as well. Just hold on,” Krel said. He helped Douxie steady himself. 

As Krel turned around, he felt two arms hesitatingly hug his shoulders. Krel raised an eyebrow and felt the heat in his face grow. “What are you doing?”

He took his arms off Krel. “Sorry! You said hold on, so I… If it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t touch you. I’m really sorry. I just-”

“No, it’s fine!” Krel said a bit too quickly. He turned around, and his face was only inches from the others. “I just didn’t expect it was all. But it’s fine.” He took Douxie’s arms and draped them over his shoulders. He turned back around. “There we go. Now, let’s get going if we’re going to find Aja.”

They headed off into the night. 

“Hey, where did you get this thing?” Douxie asked as they entered town. 

“Aja’s room.”

“Where’d Aja get it?” 

“From her room.”

Douxie chuckled. “Let me rephrase: Where on earth did something like this come from? Is it some kind of magic?”

Krel laughed. “Magic? We don’t have magic on Akir- I mean, from where we’re from. It’s just technology. Obviously not the primitive stuff you’ve been exposed to though. Kleb, I’ve built machines that are more complex than some of the stuff here.”

“You’re weird. A good weird though.” Krel could practically hear the grin in Douxie’s voice. “I think that’s cool. You must be pretty popular here with your brains.”

Krel let out a bitter laugh. “Ha! You’d think!” His smile slightly faded. They turned a building and Krel scanned for any sign of Aja and Steve. “Humans here… tend to ignore me. I’m not known for anything but being Aja’s weird little brother.” He looked down. “Even back home, I was pretty much ignored and seen as the odd one. I always tended to have a better relationship with technology than actual people.” He let out a small laugh. “I’m just… I feel like I don’t belong sometimes.”

There was a beat of silence. 

Maybe sharing something personal the first time hanging out with someone wasn’t such a good idea. Krel slowed the hoverboard down. He was about to apologize, but Douxie spoke up. 

“Krel… I’m so sorry.” His grip tightened. 

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“No, Krel. Look, you’re a bit different, but it’s not a bad thing. It makes you unique.”

“Yeah, right,” Krel murmured. 

“I’m serious. Anyone who would take the time to get to know you would be lucky. That’s why I want to get to know you. You’re an amazing person.”

Krel felt his cheeks burn. He didn’t need to see the other’s face to know he was being genuine. He smiled. 

“Thank you, Douxie.”

He brought up a hand and gently put it on Douxie’s. He smiled up at the taller boy. He gave him one of his usual smiles, this one a bit warmer than his other ones. They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like a moment.

Douxie glanced up for a second, then did a double-take. “Watch out!” 

“Huh?”

Without a second to lose, Douxie wrapped his arms around Krel’s waist and jumped off the hoverboard, pulling Krel along with him. They fell to the ground and ended up on their sides. Krel grunted in pain. He sat up, still feeling Douxie’s arms around his waist. He looked up to see he landed on the taller boy’s lap.

His face burned, and he immediately stood up. “Thanks.”

Douxie stood up as well. “No problem.”

Krel noticed a familiar figure running towards him. 

“Krel!” Aja exclaimed. “You snuck out of the house?”

“Honestly, Aja, it’s not that hard. I just copied you,” he replied, placing his hands on his hips.

“Like sister, like brother,” Steve laughed.

Aja seemed to notice the other boy. “Is that the boy who works at the cafe?” She questioned. “Since when did you two become friends?”

“Like, a day or two ago,” Douxie answered as he walked up behind Krel.

Krel noticed Aja’s phone and swiped it from her hand. “That doesn’t matter right now.”

She took her phone back. “Oh, I think it matters a lot that my little brother is sneaking out of the house with a strange human I’ve never seen.”

He took the phone back. “Well, you brought Steve along.”

She pulled the phone back. “Yes, but we know Steve, and Steve knows what we actually are.”

Krel stared at his sister for a moment then back at Douxie. Douxie stood awkwardly to the side. He took a few steps back. “Um… do you guys need me to leave? Because if you want, I can-”

“No! Stay!” Krel said, quickly grabbing for his hand.

Krel turned his attention back to Aja. He forcefully took his sister’s phone back and stared at the screen. “I don’t think who I hang out with concerns you! This is a more pressing matter! You were looking for the traitor, weren’t you?”

“What are you- Are you following me?” 

“Yes!” Krel exclaimed. “Aja, our home is in danger! Instead of looking for Varvatos, we should be focused on getting home!”

“Varvatos saved our lives!” Aja shot back.

Krel let out a frustrated sigh. “It doesn’t matter!” He shoved a finger in her face. “He betrayed us and…” He trailed off when he noticed his hand glowing a bright blue. He brought it down slowly. 

“Your hand…” 

Kleb, he forgot he was still holding Douxie’s hand. He paused.  _ He was holding Douxie’s hand! _

He roughly pulled it away from the wizard and held his wrist. If his hand was turning back, that must’ve meant his eyes were too. He tried not to make eye-contact with him.

“Kleb,” Aja murmured. “We have to get going!”

Krel turned from Douxie. “It seems we have to cut this a bit short. Uh, maybe we can do this some other time when we aren’t sneaking around?”

He could feel those green eyes on him. “I- Wait, what’s going on?”

“Nothing! My sister and I just need to get out of here! Now!”

He grabbed Aja’s hand and pulled her away from the two humans. The two of them walked a few steps before the sound of someone being tackled stopped them. 

“Ow! Get off me buttsnack!” Steve’s voice said. 

Aja and Krel turned to see Steve on the ground with the humans Eli and Toby on him. Douxie was standing behind them with a look of utter confusion on his face. The wizard walked around and helped Steve up. “You okay there?”

“Steve!” Aja exclaimed. 

Eli walked in front of the others and held his arms out. “Stay away from our friend you dirty aliens!”

Krel shoved his hands behind his back and tried to look away to keep the humans (mostly Douxie) from seeing his eyes and hands. 

That didn’t stop him from feeling offended by what the boy said. He gasped. “How dare you! We most certainly are not dirty!”

“And more importantly, we are  _ not  _ aliens,” Aja said.

Then, as if on cue, there was a bright blue flash of light that transformed them from human to Akiridion in a matter of seconds. 

“Okay… maybe we are aliens,” Aja muttered. 

Krel didn’t pay mind to what happened next between Steve, Eli, or Aja. He looked over at Douxie who seemed only mildly surprised. 

Douxie walked over to him. Krel took a few steps himself to meet him halfway. 

He rubbed his arm and smiled nervously up at him. “Heh… so… We’re Akiridions… These aren’t the ideal circumstances for you to find out, but now you know.”

Douxie shrugged, a small smile on his lips. “Yup… This is, uh, this is a thing. This explains a lot actually.”

Krel tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Your cheeks turn blue when you sort of blush.”

Krel felt his cheeks burn. Oh Kleb. “Oh…”

Douxie chuckled. “Yeah, like that.”

He felt himself blush even harder. “Oops, sorry. I-”

“Don’t apologize!” Douxie cut him off abruptly. It was his turn to blush. “I mean, it’s alright. It looks…” He looked like he was trying to find the right words. “It’s-”

“Incoming!” Krel pulled Douxie down as he noticed a giant hammer hurtling towards them. Everyone else ducked and watched as the hammer came back around only to be caught by a huge robot looking sort of creature. 

“Hand over the royal cores before I break your bones,” the bounty hunter exclaimed. 

“Run!” Krel grabbed Douxie’s hand and ran. He saw Aja do the same with Steve. Toby and Eli followed. 

“Who is this guy?” Toby asked. 

“No idea,” Aja answered. 

They ducked into a small alley and went in one by one. 

“How do you not know each other? All aliens know each other,” Eli remarked. 

Krel scrunched up his nose. “That is highly offensive! How are we supposed to know all fifty-three trillion life forms in the universe?”

“Fifty-three trillion?!”

Krel sighed and pushed the shorter boy along. 

Douxie entered the alley behind him. “You should tell me more about this sometime. When our lives aren’t in danger.”

Krel smiled despite their circumstances. “Of course. We should pick a day when I’m not sneaking out or being hunted down for my core.”

“Alright then, it’s a-”

“Would you two stop flirting? We’re about to die!” Toby grabbed them each by the arm and ran. 

Krel felt himself tense up. 

Flirting?! Was that what they were doing? More importantly, was he doing it correctly? 

He’d just have to find out when they hung out again. Which would hopefully be soon. 

-

“Hi.”

Douxie smirked as the Akiridion appeared in his human form. “Hey, Krel. It’s nice to get to see you again so soon.”

Krel scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, you too. I’m sorry I couldn’t hang out sooner. We had to travel to the moon and there was this thing with an army of ships and video games and- Ugh, it’s been crazy.”

“Sounds like it. Come on, let’s sit down.”

They sat down outside the cafe Douxie worked at. Luckily, after all that happened with Morando and the whole Varvatos situation cleared up, there wasn’t really much to do. So, Krel decided to take Douxie up on his offer to hang out. 

Rather than later in the late evening, when Krel’s transduction would usually fade, they decided to hang out in the afternoon. 

Krel sat down across from Douxie. 

Douxie rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “Now, tell me all about it.”

“Are you sure? It’s a pretty long story.”

He shrugged. “I’ve got time. Heck, why not start from when you came here? Like, came to Arcadia.”

Krel began explaining everything.  _ Everything.  _

From their crash landing on Earth to the more recent defeat of Morando. 

And Douxie didn’t once interrupt or seem bored. Usually when Krel went on a tangent, he was cut short because he was “boring”. But Douxie wasn’t. He nodded and sometimes even asked questions like “And how did that happen” or “Oh, and how did that go”. 

It was really sweet and made Krel feel really good. He noticed him tense up a bit when he mentioned high school, which Krel didn’t understand. After he finished, Douxie leaned forward. 

“Wow. That’s a lot you had to go through. I’m so sorry.” He moved his hand close to Krel’s. 

“Don’t worry about it. The worst thing that’s happened has to be school though. I hate it there!”

“Wait,” Douxie asked, pulling his hand back, “so how old did you say you were again?”

“Time works different on Akiridion-5 than on earth. On Akiridion-5, Aja and I would be considered teens,” Krel explained. “On earth, however, we are much older than that. We’re about… a few hundred kelton- I mean, years by human terms.”

Douxie let out a sigh. “Oh, that’s great. Looks like I’m not the only one in the hundreds then,” he said. 

“I don’t see what difference it makes,” Krel responded with a shrug. 

“Trust me. It makes a difference.” 

Krel gave a small smile. “What? How long are human lifespans?”

“Pretty short, actually. That’s what makes me different from them. I’m immortal.”

“Well, on the bright side, we can be different together.”

Douxie moved his hand so it was on Krel’s. “Yeah… we can.”

They talked a bit longer. Krel listened as Douxie explained what it was like to be a wizard. He talked about his familiar Archie, his mentor Merlin, and how he usually protected Arcadia at night. It was all fascinating really. Krel loved listening to all he had to say. It all almost made him forget that they'd eventually have to go back to Akiridion-5 soon. 

Almost. That little voice in the back of his head never completely went away. That little voice of doubt. The one that told him he would never fit in. The one that told him that he’d have to leave earth eventually. It was always there. But recently… 

It wasn’t as bad. 

-

“Ha ha! I’m officially an engineering genius!”

There was a static sort of sound, then the machine shut down. Krel sighed. 

“It appears your engineering genius has made a miscalculation,” Mother said. 

Krel rolled his eyes. “Yes, I see that.” Just as he was about to get back to work, the door opened up and two humans entered his workspace. 

“What are you two doing here?” Krel asked, crossing both sets of arms. 

Toby looked around the room in wonder. He focused on Krel. “Gunrobot 7 is playing at the Arcadia drive-in soon, and they’re having a contest where one local film gets to play before the movie!” He said excitedly. 

Krel moves one of his sets of arms to place his hands on his hips. “Is filmmaking one of the sacred duties of troll hunting?”

“No,” he said nonchalantly. “I’ve just always wanted to direct.”

He felt something hit his head and turned to see Eli with his arms full of notebooks and paper. 

The other human smiled, obviously excited as well. “I’ve been up ninety-six hoarse writing this script, filling it with nothing but sugar and dreams!”

Toby went on to tell him the name, which Krel was only half-paying attention to. It was way too long and nonsensical for his taste. 

“Oh! We even have a storyboard! Eli!” Toby exclaimed. He snapped his fingers, and Eli handed him a notebook. 

“It’s got action, drama, and even an allegory about man!” Eli said. “And best of all, it's science fiction!”

Krel flipped through a few pages and looked at the doodles. He shut the book. “I’m more interested in science  _ facts _ . Like building my wormhole.”

As if on cue, his machine made a few noises and ejected itself from where Krel had put it. He sighed. 

“Oh come on, Krel!” Toby begged. “With Eli’s writing, my directing, and you’re weird costume thing-”

“You mean my body?” He questioned looking down at himself. 

“Exactly! We’re bound to win this contest!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. I know all about you humans and your alien films. Everything from outer space is some kind of murderous threat!”

“Not in Kleb or Alive,” Eli chimed in. “How would you like to save the world?”

“I did that already. Last week. For real.” He walked away to pick up the machine and sighed. 

Ugh, humans were so small minded sometimes. Most humans. Not Douxie though. He seemed to understand Krel better than most other humans. He wondered if he was free today to get these two off his back. 

Then, Toby ran in his path. “Well, this time it’ll be less end of the world terrifying and more of friends having fun!” He grinned. 

Krel stopped in his tracks. He let out a gasp. “We’re… we’re friends?” 

“Of course we are! You saved us from some alien bounty hunter, we saved you from military bad guys. That’s what friends do!”

A warm sort of feeling formed in Krel’s core. Not the kind he felt around Douxie. It was a different kind of feeling. But not a bad one. He felt himself smile a little. 

Friends. 

He never had friends before. Especially not ones that wanted him around just for fun. 

And they actually thought he was cool. They thought he was cool for just being him. Huh… Maybe these two human teens weren’t as bad as he thought. 

Toby looked up at him. “So, what do you say DJ Kleb? I mean, if you want, we can even call up your boyfriend to be the love interest- Oh, Eli, write that down! We might want to add a romance subplot to increase the drama factor!”

Krel flinched. “Boyfriend?! What are you talking about?”

“That guy that works at the cafe,” Toby explained. “Aren’t you two, like, a couple?”

Krel could feel his face burn. “No! No, we are not!” Krel practically screamed. “What would make you think such a thing?!”

“All the weird flirting,” Toby said. 

“And the way you always blush when he’s around,” Eli added. 

“Yeah,” Toby laughed. “I haven’t seen someone head over heels that bad since Jimbo had a thing for Claire.”

“Wait, so you two aren’t dating?” Eli asked. “You should. You’d make a sweet couple.”

Krel tensed up, his blush growing stronger. “If I agree to be in your movie, do you promise to never bring this up again?”

“Deal!” Eli and Toby exclaimed in unison. 

-

“Are you going to meet Douxie  _ again _ ?”

Krel turned to face his sister. “Yes. What’s wrong with that?”

She placed a hand on her hip. “I thought you were going to try working on the wormhole again. How many times are you going to see him?”

“How many times are you going to see Steve?” Krel retorted with a smirk. 

“That’s because Steve and I are-” She stopped. A small knowing look formed on her face. “Oh, I see what’s going on here.”

Krel raised an eyebrow. “Uh, what?”

She ran up to him and squeezed him. “Aww, you have feelings for this human! That’s adorable!”

Krel blushed and pushed his sister off. “Wh-What? No! Who said that?”

She gave a small squeal. “I don’t know how I didn’t see it sooner! It’s so obvious!”

Krel crossed his arms and looked down then back at Aja. “Okay, maybe I do. Is it really that obvious?”

“A little bit.”

He groaned. “Ugh, first Toby and Eli find out, and now you! Do you think Douxie’s noticed as well?”

Aja shrugged. “That’s a strong possibility.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “But don’t worry about it! If he didn’t feel the same way, then he probably wouldn’t want to be asking you out on dates as much as he does?”

“Dates?!”

“Yes, dates! Is that not what you two have been doing?”

“No! At least, I don’t think…” He shook his head. He grabbed Aja’s shoulders and shook her. “You’re better than me at this! Is that what this is?”

She stopped him and gave him a gentle smile. “Why don’t you just ask him?”

Krel tilted his head. “Is it really that simple?”

“For Steve and I it was.”

Krel wanted to say that was only because Steve was a simple creature, but refrained from saying so. He took in a breath. “Okay. I’ll ask him.”

Aja beamed. “Lively! Now go!” She pushed him out the door. 

Krel looked back for a second. He made his way down to where Douxie said to meet him. It was a purple building that was next to the record store. Douxie called it a “library”. 

Krel walked in and immediately noticed the shelves full of books. He looked around at everything. No one seemed to be here. Maybe, this wasn’t the right place. 

Suddenly, something black shot across the room. Krel jumped. 

He walked over to see what it was that had moved so quickly. But he couldn’t find anything. 

“So, you’re the one Douxie’s always talking about,” a voice said. 

Krel turned around and was met by a small furry black creature with glasses. He wasn’t sure if that was who spoke to him because from what Krel had seen, these creatures usually didn’t speak. 

He just blinked. 

The creature came up to him and stared at him, like he was trying to see through his human disguise. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

Krel took a step back. “You talk!”

“And so do you. Now that we got the obvious out of the way, let me introduce myself.” The creature straightened its glasses and stood on two legs. “You can call me Archie. I’m Douxie’s familiar.”

“Oh…” Krel didn’t know what that was. “Um, I’m-”

“Krel Tarron the Akiridion. So, I’ve heard.” The small thing grew wings and flew up to meet Krel’s eyes. There was the hint of a smile on the familiar’s face. “Douxie won’t shut up about you. He really thinks you’re something.” He looked Krel up and down.

Krel felt himself tense up. 

The familiar spoke again. “You’re just like he said you were. Except he said you glowed blue and had four arms and, I quote, ‘the most beautiful and exotic eyes I’ve ever seen in my lifetime’.”

Krel blushed for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. “R-really? He said that?”

“Along with other things. He’s head over heels for you. I suggest you finally ask him to date you. I don’t think I can handle all the senseless pining anymore.”

Krel felt his core overwhelmed with emotions. They were conflicting to say the least. 

He had overwhelming joy that Douxie reciprocated his feelings and relieved that they weren’t a one way thing. But, he was also worried. Worried that once the wormhole was built, they’d have to go back to Akiridion-5, and he’d never get to see Douxie again. 

What was he supposed to do then?

This wasn’t some kind of sweet beginning. Just a detour to the end. A set up for disaster. 

He would’ve gone on to continue to think about how bad this was, but was interrupted by none other than the wizard himself. 

“Archie!” Douxie came running down a flight of stairs and swiped at the familiar. “Arch, what are you telling him?!”

The creature laughed. “Nothing. Nothing too embarrassing. Do you want me to? I could always tell him what you said about his h-”

“No! That’s enough!” He turned to Krel. “I’m so sorry. He’s usually a lot less nosy.” He shot a look at Archie with the last statement. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, let’s go. I know this really cool place we can go.” He took Krel’s hand and led him out of the library. 

Krel just followed along as Douxie held his hand. He contemplated waiting a while but decided he might as well get this out of the way before this went on for too long. 

“Douxie, can I ask you something?” 

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Are we- Is this- Uh-” Seklos and Gaylen, this was much harder than he thought it would be. 

Douxie didn’t say anything. He waited patiently for Krel to finish his thought. 

Krel took in a deep breath and went for it. He spoke quickly. “Is this a date?” 

This stopped Douxie in his tracks. He turned to Krel slowly, never letting go of his hand. “Uh… no. Or yes! Do you want it to be?”

Krel stared at him. He shrugged. “Do you want it to be?”

“Only if you do.”

Krel tightened his grip on Douxie’s hand. “I kind of do. Only if you’re okay with it, of course!”

Douxie nodded quickly. “Yes!” He cleared his throat. “Uh, I mean… yes. Yes, I’d be okay with that.”

Krel chuckled. “So, you’d be okay with us… you know, dating?”

This time it was Douxie who was blushing. “Yeah. Very much so.”

Krel smiled up at him. Without giving it a second thought, he wrapped his arms around the other and hugged him tightly. 

Douxie hesitated for a second then hugged him back. 

They embraced for what seemed like forever. 

Krel liked this. He never wanted to let him go. If he didn’t let go of him, he wouldn’t have to go to Akiridion-5, right? He could just stay in this loving embrace forever. He could stay in this moment where it felt like he was safe. It felt like he was someone.

It felt like he belonged here. 

-

Krel looked out into the dark abyss. 

The small ball of light they had been following plummeted down into the darkness. Him, Aja, and Varvatos stared out into it. 

“How are we supposed to follow it?” Aja asked. 

“We don’t,” Toby said. “That’s the deep. If you go down there, you face your deepest fear.”

Krel raised an eyebrow. “Why would anyone want to do that?”

Toby shrugged. His expression was one of concern. “I don’t know, but Jim made it out alive. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who has…”

“We don’t have a choice,” Aja said. “We have to find Gaylen’s core before Morando!” She was about to go after the light, but Krel put out an arm. 

“No, I’ll go. You and Varvatos have to stay and fight whatever is coming.”

Aja hesitated. She handed him her hoverboard. “Go. Take this.”

Krel took it from her. “Okay. If I’m not back in five mekrons, all of you come after- AH!” He was pushed into the abyss. He screamed until he got to the bottom. 

He set his eyes on the glowing orb and followed it. 

He dodged a few rocks and slipped through small spaces. “Come on, Krel,” he murmured to himself. “Follow that light. Just follow that light.”

Suddenly, the light dipped, and Krel was met with a painful whack to the face. He slammed against a rock and fell to the ground. 

He groaned in pain. His vision going black. Everything fading from his sight. He laid his head on the floor and passed out. 

At least, that’s what it felt like. 

That’s what he thought. 

There was darkness for a while, but then there was light. 

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Woah, Krel are you okay?”

Krel realized his surroundings and took in the sight. 

There was no dark cave. No ball of blue light. He wasn’t even in his Akiridion form anymore. 

He was sitting on a bench in the middle of Arcadia’s park. Not a cloud in the sky. The day seemed perfect. 

He turned to see Douxie seated next to him. One of his soft smiles was present on his face. 

“Douxie?” He breathed. 

“Hi Krel!” Krel turned to see Varvatos’s geezer friends waving to him with smiles on their faces. 

He was greeted with more familiar faces. Ms. Janett, Stuart, Eli, Steve. They all greeted him with a smile like there wasn’t a care in the world. 

He felt an arm drape over his shoulder. He looked up at Douxie. He was a bit confused as to how he got here, but he didn’t think to question it much. 

He leaned into the taller boy’s embrace and put a hand on Douxie’s. 

“Son,” a familiar voice said. 

Krel turned around. “Papa? Mama?” 

Sure enough, there they stood. 

Krel broke free of the other’s embrace and ran to his parents, hugging them tightly. “What are you doing here?”

His mother gave him a warm smile. “Why wouldn’t we be here? This is our home now, Krel.”

“Home…?” He whispered under his breath. 

His parents nodded. “Yes.”

He smiled too. “Home…”

His mother motioned to all the familiar faces. “See? Everyone you care about is here.”

Krel’s smile grew wider. He stepped away from them and took Douxie’s hand in his. 

Everything was perfect. 

His friends were here. His parents were here. His boyfriend was here. Everyone he loved was here. This was like a dream come true. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. 

Out of seemingly nowhere, Morando’s ships appeared in the sky. Lasers started blasting everything and everyone. 

“No,” Krel whispered. “No. No! Run!”

He looked back at his parents, only for them to be destroyed by Morando himself. 

“There is nowhere to run,” he said darkly. 

“Mama! Papa! No!” He screamed. 

“I will destroy everything you love.” Morando laughed. 

That’s when everything went up in flames. Lasers blasted buildings, setting them ablaze. Shots were fired at the humans, reducing them to dust. 

Everyone was dying. Morando was taking everything from him. 

Krel grabbed Douxie and pulled him into cover. He held the boy closely to keep him safe. 

“No,” Krel cried. “No! No! No! No!”

There wasn’t anything he could do. He was useless to bring them all back. All his friends and his parents were dead. He had to keep Douxie safe. He was all he had left. 

He heard Morando’s laughter again. 

Krel felt a hand grab his shirt and throw him across the concrete. He landed on his stomach and groaned in pain. He looked up and saw Morando holding onto Douxie, who was struggling in his grasp. 

“Douxie!”

Morando threw the wizard to the ground. “Arcadia burns and House of Tarron ceases to exist while you cower.” The general brought you his weapon up and pointed it at Douxie. “You failed.”

He looked straight at Krel as he shot Douxie down. The human dissolved to dust before his eyes. 

Krel felt tears well up in his eyes. His vision became blurry as his eyes became full of tears. 

He looked down at the ground and felt them run down his cheeks. “No… no…”

“You couldn’t stop me before. You can’t stop me now.

“No…” 

His chest felt heavy as he stared at the ground. His hands shook as he cried. 

“My friends… my family…” His voice shook. “This is my home…”

He took in a shaky breath. “This… this is my home.” He looked up. His grief soon transformed into anger. “I won’t let you do this.”

He stood up and went back into his Akiridion form. “Earth is my home. I won’t let you do this.”

Morando shot at him, but he put up his shield. At this point, he was seething with rage. “This is my home! I won’t let you do this!”

“Then you die,” Morando said, shooting at him. 

Krel fought back. 

“No! I won’t let you hurt my friends!” He landed a hit. “I won’t let you hurt my family!” Another hit. “And I will  _ not  _ let you hurt him!”

He continued swiping his weapon at Morando. “I won’t let this happen ever again! I am not afraid!”

He stabbed his weapon right into Morando’s chest. 

The general began fading into blue pixels and so did the world around them. 

Krel took in deep and heavy breaths. 

It wasn’t real. It was just… his deepest fear. 

He couldn’t stand to lose his new friends or his boyfriend. Most importantly, he couldn’t stand the thought of the earth being destroyed. It hurt him too much to think about it. Everyone and everything he cared about was here. 

It was where he felt accepted, no matter how out of place he seemed. Everyone here had something that made them weird. At this point, Krel had figured that on earth weird was considered good. That made him feel good. 

It made him feel at home. 

Earth… was his home. 

-

It was happening. 

It was actually happening. They were going back. 

After so many parsons of being stuck on Earth, Krel could hardly believe it. All they had to do was open up the wormhole and Akiridion-5 would be right there! So close. 

All they had to do was say goodbye to their friends, and they’d be on their way. Aja was saying her goodbyes to Steve and a few other human friends. 

Krel made sure to say goodbye to Toby and Mary and a few others as well. Now, he just had to say goodbye to Douxie. 

He came over to the human boy and gave a nervous smile. He reached out and grabbed his hand. 

He squeezed Douxie’s hands. He couldn’t bring his eyes up to meet the other’s. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. 

He heard Douxie sigh. Douxie released one of Krel’s hands and cupped the Akiridion’s cheek, making him face him. “I’ll miss you so much,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Krel let himself lean into the boy’s touch. “I’ll miss you too. I…” He let out a puff of air. “It’s funny really. This is exactly what I was afraid of by meeting you. I didn't want to say goodbye.”

Douxie gave a gentle smile. “I know. It doesn’t get any easier. Not even for me. If I could, I would go with you, but I got my own responsibilities to worry about here on Earth.”

“I know,” Krel responded. “We can make it work though. Somehow.” He stood up a little straighter. “I mean if Aja and Steve can do it, then surely we can make this work.” He gave him a smile.

Douxie returned the smile. “I don’t doubt it.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Just call me from time to time, okay?”

“I will.”

There was a beat of silence. 

Douxie cleared his throat. He glanced back at Aja and the others. “Well, I should get going. I, uh… My shift at the cafe starts soon, so…”

Krel felt himself tense up. He wasn’t sure he could actually say goodbye, but he didn’t really have too much of a choice at this point. “Heh, yeah. I…” He hesitated. “You’re an amazing person, Douxie.”

Without a word, the other boy wrapped his arms around Krel. He squeezed him tightly. Krel hugged him back with all four of his arms. 

They separated shortly and looked around awkwardly. 

Douxie was about to turn to leave but stopped abruptly. He gave Krel a quick kiss on the cheek and smiled. “Goodbye, Krel.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

Krel gently touched the part of his cheek the wizard kissed. He turned his own way and made his way over to where Aja was saying her farewells to Stuart. 

“I’m gonna miss you kids,” Stuart was saying. “Don’t forget to give me a call or an email. Something like that.” He went off on a sort of tangent. 

Krel zoned out and walked away. He stared out over Arcadia for what might be his last time. 

Something about this wasn’t right. 

It felt like just yesterday Krel was determined to get back home. He was set to fix Mother and hightail it back to Akiridion-5 without a second thought. But he didn’t feel that way anymore. For once, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go back home. 

Things changed. 

He had friends on Earth. He made a name for himself. He found someone. Someone that made him feel like he never felt before. He found… a family of sorts. 

Sure, Akiridion-5 was nice. He had Aja, Varvatos, Zadra, and even Eli was going back with them. But that was it. 

Other than that, he really didn’t have anything. 

He would just be another face in the crowd. King-in-Waiting, sure, but that didn’t carry much weight to it considering Aja was the one destined to rule. 

He stared out on the sun rising over the small town. He took in a deep breath. 

No. 

It didn’t need to be like that. He didn’t need to go back and be part of the crowd. He could be someone. Someone with friends. Someone people know. Someone who could explore what it was like to be in an actual relationship. Someone different. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder. 

He glanced over to see it was his sister. He gave her a small smile then looked back at the town. 

“You were right, Aja… We made a lot of friends on this mud ball.”

She took a step closer to him. “Little brother…”

He turned completely to face her. “And all my friends are here.” He took her hands gently in his. “This is my home.”

She gave him a sad smile. “I know.” She used one of her free hands to wipe a tear from her eye. “And I know he’s here too. You deserve to be happy, little brother.”

In a flash of blue, he was back his human form. 

Varvatos came up behind him. “The humans of this planet will be most lucky to have you.”

He smiled up at both of them. 

While their friends cheered at news of Krel remaining on Earth, Aja put an arm around her brother and gave him one more hug. “I think your magic boy would be most pleased to hear this news, don’t you think?”

Krel took in a sudden breath. Douxie! He had to tell Douxie’s about this!

Aja must’ve been able to read his expression because she gave a small chuckle. “Don’t worry about me. Go catch him before he thinks you're gone!”

Krel gave Aja one last hug. Then, he spun around and ran in the direction he saw Douxie go. 

“Up top, DJ Kleb! It’s so cool you get to stay!” Toby exclaimed as he held his hand up for a high-five. “Oh! Maybe now that means we can-”

“That’s nice, Toby,” Krel said quickly, giving Toby his high-five. “But I have somewhere I need to be!” He ran past him. 

He ran past everyone else as fast as he could. He didn’t have to go too far. He saw the wizard just past a few trees. 

“Douxie!” He called. 

The boy stopped in his tracks and turned with obvious surprise in his voice. “Krel?” 

The Akiridion ran up to him without stopping and embraced the taller human, almost knocking him over. He squeezed Douxie’s waist tightly. 

Douxie didn’t hug back. “Wait, you're here? Why are you here? I thought you were going back to Akiridion-5.”

Krel released him and shrugged. “Actually, I decided to stay. I know it’s a little last minute, but there’s so much I really couldn’t stand to leave behind. So much I have yet to see too.”

Douxie didn’t respond. He just stared at Krel with an unreadable expression. 

Krel‘s smile dropped. “Douxie? I thought… you’d be a bit more excited. It’s just-”

Before he could finish his statement, he felt a pair of lips against his. He felt hands grasping at the sides of his arms pulling him closer. 

Krel closed his eyes and let himself melt into the kiss. He put his arms over the taller boy’s shoulders. 

Douxie pulled away slowly. A smile tugged at his lips. “I’m glad you decided to stay. I love you, you little tech wiz.”

Krel chuckled. “I really like- love you too… regular wizard?” 

Douxie laughed. “We’ll work on nicknames later.” He let his hand slide down Krel’s arm and took his hand. “I still have work tonight. If you want to join me, though, I wouldn’t be opposed to it. It’s late, so not many people will be there.”

He squeezed Douxie’s hand. “Oh, I see. You are asking me on another date, right?”

“Maybe.”

“I accept. Let’s go.”

They walked through the woods hand-in-hand.

Douxie spoke. “This should be interesting. I’ve heard of some odd couples, but a wizard and Akiridion? Makes you wonder what people would think.”

Krel smirked. “At this point, does it really matter? You humans are all sorts of weird.”

Douxie laughed. “You’re not wrong about that.”

“Besides, I don’t see why it would matter. Being normal doesn’t seem all it’s cracked up to be, especially in this town. We’ll be anything but ordinary.”

**Author's Note:**

> Oh kleb, this turned out way longer than I expected. Haha, oops...
> 
> Thanks for reading, guys, gals, and non-binary pals! Hope you like it!


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